1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of machinery and specifically relates to a fixture and a method of employing the fixture to replace a bearing that journals a shaft on which a belt wheel is mounted.
2. The Prior Art
Belts are typically used to bring power into a machine, to remove power from a machine, and to maintain synchrony between two rotating shafts. In the latter case, the belt may include transverse ribs that engage grooves on the circumference of the wheel. To avoid slipping of the belt with respect to the wheel and to avoid excessive sagging of the belt, it is necessary to maintain some tension in the belt. Indeed, if there were no tension in the belt, there could be no transmission of power.
Tension in the belt results in a sideward load applied to the bearings that journal the shaft to which the wheel is connected. This sideward load eventually causes wear of the bearing which eventually necessitates the replacement of the bearing.
Replacement of the beating, as practiced in the prior art, was not a simple matter, due mainly to the presence of the belt and the need to restore its original tension after the beating had been replaced. In some instances, especially those in which the present invention is most effectively employed, the wheel, the shaft and belt are heavy and may require several workers to position them. As a result, replacing the bearings was viewed as a difficult, time consuming, and possibly dangerous operation.
In a typical prior art practice, the belt was removed from the wheel to relieve sideward forces on the beating, then the wheel was removed from the shaft, and finally the shaft was removed from the bearing, after which the bearing was replaced and the parts were reassembled.
With these difficulties of the prior art method in view, the present inventor set out to find a more efficient way of replacing the bearings.